7500 mAh / 96 Wh - BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 / BlackVue B-130X / Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95

[rcg530]

@rcg530 - In your video review of PC8 you show it drawing about 13.81 amps when set to 9. In your video about the heating of the coiled wire, it looks like it only hits a max of about 9.74 amps. Was there another change I'm missing?

View attachment 64475
View attachment 64474

Yes, my original review of the PowerCell 8 did detect the fact that the PowerCell 8 I tested at that time did draw almost 14 amps when configured to use no more than 9 amps for high amp charging mode. I've asked BlackboxMyCar to follow up with EGEN (the manufacturer) to see why that would be the case. I have not received a response yet after following up on that question a few times.

The PowerCell 8 I have now for the comparison video and another PowerCell 8 unit that @Panzer Platform received for testing, show much lower charging amps in 9 amp charging mode. It still exceeds the stated 9 amp amount, but it's far closer to the stated maximum. Using a home made 12 AWG charging cable further reduces the maximum amps and cable temperature as well.

 

[marcusb]

Thanks! I hope you get an answer. 4+ amps over the set amount is really terrible.

I followed your advice and set up the relay today, I feel much better having done that, even if it is really pulling less than 10 amps it's a better setup.

 

[Vortex Radar]

So I've been quietly continuing testing in the background while working on other projects. I'd like to get to my comparison video soon too, but here's a look at some parking mode runtime tests.

Unsurprisingly the record times are all very comparable.


The key differences seem to mostly be things like what input voltages they support, if they support expansion batteries, and what hardwire cables they offer.

Interestingly though, max charging speeds to seem to vary.
Thinkware iVolt Xtra: 8.5A
Blackvue B-130X: 9.25A
BBMC Powercell 8: 10A (maxing out my power supply)

 

[rcg530]

@BlackboxMyCar now sells a DC inverter that should successfully charge their own PowerCell 8 dash camera battery pack and the BlackVue B-130X battery pack in the low "5-amp" charging mode. This new DC inverter is rated at 8 Amps max instead of the older unit's 5 Amps max. BBMC is sending me one of the new 8 Amp DC inverters and I'll test it after arrives next week.

It looks like the BBMC ordering page was updated since I looked at it yesterday. There's now a choice for a 6 Amp unit or an 8 Amp unit.

 

[SPL15]

Instead of buying a low power “DC Inverter” of unknown quality that serves only 1 limited function. Just buy a Meanwell NPB-360-12AD1, or TB, for $90. “AD1” has Anderson powerpole connector at the end of a 6ft cable, “TB” has screw terminal block output connection on the housing. Anderson powerpole adapter cables for various connector types are pretty cheap on Amazon & elsewhere.

This solution provides a solid & reliable 20 amps continuous @ whatever voltage you set, has the proper charge profiles for lead acid battery charging, & can be easily switched to different cable ends for: battery post Alligator clamps, Cigarette lighter outlet, XT60 female, or whatever else you want to power (camping fridge, etc).

It’s intended as a battery charger, works 100% fine as a power supply. Everyone should have a good quality battery charger, this is “THE BEST” 20amp battery charger on the market for less than $100.

Meanwell is a reputable manufacturer of industrial switching power supplies, I’ve used them professionally for decades. They’re pretty bullet proof; I’ve had ONE fail after 7 years of 24/7 operation, out of the hundreds I’ve spec’d for use in industrial controls applications over the past few decades

NPB-360-MEAN WELL Switching Power Supply Manufacturer

MEAN WELL is one of the world's few standard power supply mainly professional manufacturers, covering 0.5 to 25,600W products are widely used in industrial control, medical and other fields, in line with international safety certification, short delivery of spot inventory.

www.meanwell.com

 

[rcg530]

Instead of buying a low power “DC Inverter” of unknown quality that serves only 1 limited function. Just buy a Meanwell NPB-360-12AD1, or TB, for $90. “AD1” has Anderson powerpole connector at the end of a 6ft cable, “TB” has screw terminal block output connection on the housing. Anderson powerpole adapter cables for various connector types are pretty cheap on Amazon & elsewhere.

This solution provides a solid & reliable 20 amps continuous @ whatever voltage you set, has the proper charge profiles for lead acid battery charging, & can be easily switched to different cable ends for: battery post Alligator clamps, Cigarette lighter outlet, XT60 female, or whatever else you want to power (camping fridge, etc).

It’s intended as a battery charger, works 100% fine as a power supply. Everyone should have a good quality battery charger, this is “THE BEST” 20amp battery charger on the market for less than $100.

Meanwell is a reputable manufacturer of industrial switching power supplies, I’ve used them professionally for decades. They’re pretty bullet proof; I’ve had ONE fail after 7 years of 24/7 operation, out of the hundreds I’ve spec’d for use in industrial controls applications over the past few decades

NPB-360-MEAN WELL Switching Power Supply Manufacturer

MEAN WELL is one of the world's few standard power supply mainly professional manufacturers, covering 0.5 to 25,600W products are widely used in industrial control, medical and other fields, in line with international safety certification, short delivery of spot inventory.

www.meanwell.com

I truly understand your support for this type of charging device. A vast majority of the dash camera user base is not going to be interested in piecing together a charging device for their dash camera battery pack. A "simple" option (as long as it works reliably) is what most dash camera battery pack owners are looking for to solve their need to charge their dash camera battery pack if their driving habits don't provide enough charging time while driving. The $60 30V/10A DC power supplies that I've been using are enough to reliably charge a dash camera battery pack (in low or high [in most cases] amp charging mode). Although, the buyer of a DC power supply still needs to figure out the proper cable or connectors to connect the DC power supply to the dash camera battery pack. @Panzer Platform and I both ran into problems with the original DC inverter sold by BBMC. We're just trying to validate whether the product offering from BBMC will perform the function it is advertised to perform.

 

[SPL15]

Gotcha. If plug & play is desired, there’re plenty of 12 volt 10 amp power supplies w/ a cigarette lighter socket on the market. It’ll be interesting to see how the new BBMC version stacks up to other cheaply priced equivalent units that sell for $30 - $40 USD. I’d be interested to see how much the new unit’s output voltage sags under load, which is a direct indication of design “quality” as well as how stressed the power supply is. Looking forward to your review on it

 

[rcg530]

Gotcha. If plug & play is desired, there’re plenty of 12 volt 10 amp power supplies w/ a cigarette lighter socket on the market. It’ll be interesting to see how the new BBMC version stacks up to other cheaply priced equivalent units that sell for $30 - $40 USD. I’d be interested to see how much the new unit’s output voltage sags under load, which is a direct indication of design “quality” as well as how stressed the power supply is. Looking forward to your review on it

A 12V/10A DC inverter is not sufficient to charge most dash camera battery packs. The battery maintenance system (BMS) in the battery pack will not allow the battery pack to start charging unless it sees mid 13V to low 14V volts on the input charging cable. Finding a DC inverter with an output voltage in the low 14V range is a bit more challenging.

 

[SPL15]

I recall my Powercell 8 charging just fine at 12.0 VDC input when I briefly tested it on my Keysight 20 amp power supply. The internal cells are charged via a synchronous buck/boost switching regulator that takes the “12Vdc” from the car’s electrical system (typically 13.8 - 14.4) & provides regulated CC/CV power to the BMS circuit that’s agnostic of power input voltage from the car, & works fine down to around 10.75 volts input. I would be surprised if Egen didn’t use the same exact circuit in their other OE products for Blackview, Cellink, etc. There will be increased current draw at the reduced input voltage (potentially beyond listed specification), due to the nature of how switching regulators work. I design these types of circuits & switching regulators for a living

 

[rcg530]

I recall my Powercell 8 charging just fine at 12.0 VDC input when I briefly tested it on my Keysight 20 amp power supply. The internal cells are charged via a buck/boost switching regulator that takes the “12Vdc” from the car’s electrical system (typically 13.8 - 14.4) & provides regulated CC/CV power to the BMS circuit, & works fine down to around 10.75 volts input. I would be surprised if Egen didn’t use the same exact circuit in their other OE products for Blackview, Cellink, etc. There will be increased current draw at the reduced input voltage (potentially beyond listed specification), due to the nature of how switching regulators work. I design these types of circuits & switching regulators for a living

I just tested the PowerCell 8 and the BlackVue B-130X that I used in my review video with 12.0 input charging volts and both started charging without incident. The PowerCell 8 in my car went through three attempts to start charging and failed with 12.0 input charging volts (red LED and green LED blinking and it beeped on each failed attempt) indicating the input charging voltage was too low. On the fourth attempt to start charging, it successfully started charging (red LED on steady).

I ran another test with the PowerCell 8 that I used in the review with an input charging voltage of 11.9 and the cigarette lighter adapter charging cord. That test failed.

• Input charging power switched on
  • Red LED blinking - 6 seconds (pre-charging)
  • Red LED steady - 12 seconds (appears to start charging with 11.9 input charging volts and it was drawing 6.2 amps)
  • Red & Green LEDs blinking - charging stops and remains stopped until input charging voltage increased to 12.1 volts

The Cellink Neo Plus app also showed a "Low Voltage Warning" on the screen. With the red & green LEDs blinking and the PowerCell 8 not charging, I increased the charging voltage from 11.9 volts to 12.0 volts and it still would not start charging. When I increased the input charging voltage to 12.1 volts it started charging.

It appears the somewhat older PowerCell 8 that is in my car is a bit more sensitive about the input charging voltage level than the newer PowerCell 8 that I used in my review video, but both units would not start a normal charging cycle at 12.0 or 11.9 volts. It looks like having the DC inverter output anything around 12.0 volts may or may not work with depending on how precise it regulates its output voltage level.

 

[SPL15]

A little off topic:

Your prior posts / results regarding issues w/ excessive current draw being observed during testing, & your recent statement about problems getting some dashcam batteries to initiate charge unless voltage input is more around 14 VDC, got me thinking a bit about the “reasons why”.

Switching regulators act more like “constant power” converters, where the input power mostly tracks output power (albeit with some dynamically variable losses that are inherent to switching regulators). In order to maintain this “theoretical” 1:1 input / output power relationship: Input current will adjust up or down if input voltage sags or increases in order to maintain the fixed power output needs of whatever is being energized. If input voltage is lower than design specification, there will be an increase in current draw beyond design specification, as you’ve observed. There’s also the issue of switching regulator efficiency typically decreasing as current draw increases due to a sagging input voltage; thus further exacerbating the problem of excess current draw at low input voltages. Better designed switching regulators will shut-off or go into a low power mode if the input current/voltage combination is outside of design specifications.

The following is all speculation on my part:

In the case of the PowerCell8 during your testing, I’m guessing the combination of thin factory cabling, in addition to unknown copper losses from adapters / connectors & internal to the power supply itself, caused actual input voltage internal to the PC8 to be excessively low, thus the higher than spec current draw.

The PC8 has a maximum input current draw specification of 13.5 amps @ 11.0Vdc input (assuming the charge current is set to 9.0 amps). These specifications will be based on input voltage at the PC8’s terminals on the housing (per standard product design practice), but possibly internal to the unit (which is unlikely, but isn’t unheard of).

You also stated you’re using a 10 amp bench power supply. There’s a possibility that it simply can’t maintain the necessary output current, which will cause its output voltage to sag significantly, potentially below what the PC8 will allow charging at. By increasing the PSU’s output voltage to 13.8 - 14.4 VDC, you’re reducing the PC8’s input current draw requirements back down to the “nominal” 10 amps or so, which your PSU can provide. Again, this only speculation on my part, I could be understanding / remembering your setup & test completely wrong.

When you did these tests & observed these issues, did you happen to note what the PC8 reported for input voltage? My PC8 is slightly optimistic w/ its input voltage reporting at around 0.1 - 0.2 VDC high compared to reality, but that can mostly be considered “noise” in the wider scheme of things.

During my testing, I used a calibrated Keysight laboratory power supply that has a 4-wire “kelvin” connection that actively regulates output voltage to be within a fraction of a percent of the set level at the PC8’s power input terminals, which removes all parasitic voltage drop losses caused from any cabling / connectors, & it has plenty of current capacity to deal w/ the additional current draw at lower input voltages. This could explain why my test results show the PC8 starts charging & works perfectly fine all the way down to around 10.5 - 10.75 volts where the app will warn about low input voltage around this range. I might remove my PC8 from my car to get some more numbers / verify what i initially observed.


Wow, that’s a lot of words I typed! With all of that in mind, I have to change my initial stance & fully agree with your statement that a “plug & play” style of dashcam battery charger should output around 13.8 - 14.4 VDC (up to 15 - 16 volts preferably) if its output current is limited to only 10 amps or less. Hopefully the new unit that BBMC will be selling soon outputs more around 15Vdc to help compensate for cabling / connector losses which will ensure actual current draw will be more around 5 - 6 amps, & will do a lot towards maximizing overall efficiency of the charger & battery pack, reducing heat production for long term reliability. It’d be pretty cool if you’re able to record loaded output voltage with a meter during your testing of the new charger.

 

[SPL15]

I just saw your reply. I’m wondering if there’s also different firmware at play too. My PC8 is recent production, fresh off the boat from the last shipment to BBMC.

I’m tempted to rip apart my car to grab the PC8 & verify some of the results I saw. I shoulda written things down, I forget that I’m getting old & forget things a lot more than I used to

 

[rcg530]

Monday, I received the updated DC power inverter being sold by BlackboxMyCar that is intended to charge dash camera battery packs when the vehicle is parked at home.

The DC power inverter outputs 14.6 volts with a maximum amp load of 8 Amps. Yesterday, I ran a charging test using a PowerCell 8 dash camera battery pack. I fully discharged the PowerCell 8 by having two A139 Pro dash cameras connected to dashcam output power port (using a custom Y-cable I made). This placed a load of 1.4 amps on the battery pack. I also used a Drok USB power load tester by connecting it to the USB port on the PowerCell 8. The VIOFO HK3-C hardwire kits will stop powering the dash cameras when the battery pack's "12 volt" output voltage drops to 11.8 volts. The Drok USB power load tester is being used to drain the battery pack all the way to the point where the battery pack's BMS turns off the power output for the battery pack.

My initial test of the DC inverter was with the PowerCell 8 being fully discharged and I had one VIOFO A139 Pro 3-Channel and VIOFO HK3-C hardwire kit connected to the dashcam output power port. I wanted to replicate the testing I performed when I used my DC power supply to charge the PowerCell 8 (in low amp "5-amp" charging mode). The DC inverter has a cigarette lighter adapter (CLA) power connector. I connected the PowerCell 8 to the DC inverter using the CLA charging cable provided with the PowerCell 8.

I switched on the PowerCell 8 by sliding the "low/off/high" switch to the "low" position. The PowerCell 8 did not power up since the battery pack was fully discharged. I plugged in the AC cord of the DC inverter and the PowerCell 8 booted and started charging (red status LED was on) and the VIOFO A139 Pro 3-channel dash camera booted up and started recording. I had my new TOPDON TC0004 thermal camera focused on the DC inverter. I had the TOPDON TC004 record video of the charging test. That was a mistake. The TC004 video is very poor quality and it doesn't include the temperature readings. At the beginning of the test, I took one picture with TC004. It was my fault for not confirming the TC004 video was recording what I thought it should record.

Test Results:

• BlackboxMyCar DC Inverter - 8 Amp
  • 14.6 Volts
  • Max 8 Amps
• Battery Pack
  • BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8
• Load Placed On Battery Pack - While Charging
  • VIOFO A139 Pro 3-Channel powered using a VIOFO HK3-C hardwire kit
• Observed Data
  • Max DC Inverter Temp: 122F/50C
  • Fully Discharged to Fully Charged: 1 hours 53 minutes 38 seconds (1:53:38)
  • Test was successful

In my second charging test, I will not be placing a load on the PowerCell 8. The reason for using the DC inverter is to charge a dash camera battery pack when the vehicle is parked at home. If the owner's driving habits don't allow the battery pack to obtain a full charge, the DC inverter can be helpful in making sure the battery pack is fully charged so the owner can achieve the longest possible parking mode recording sessions when they drive and then park their vehicle. The dash camera should be disconnected from the battery pack when attempting to charge the battery pack at home.

Next Test Configuration:

• BlackboxMyCar DC Inverter - 8 Amp
  • 14.6 Volts
  • Max 8 Amps
• Battery Pack
  • BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8
• Load Placed On Battery Pack - While Charging
  • None

TOPDON TC004 Pics:

Screenshot from TC004 recorded video (very poor quality and no temp info):


Picture captured by TC004 at the very start of the charging test (not too useful, but this is what I was wanting the TC004 video to record)

 

[rcg530]

BlackboxMyCar 14.6V/8.0 Amp Max Charger - BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 7500 mAh / 96 Wh

The PowerCell 8 dash camera battery pack was fully discharged using two VIOFO A139 Pro dash cameras and a DROK USB power load device. The room temperature was 74F/23.3F.

I monitored the temperature of the charger by using a TOPDON TC004 thermal camera. I used the TOPDON TDView software on my Windows 10 laptop to set five fixed temperature points along with the max temp within view and the min temp within view.

To not interfere with the amp draw, I used two external amp clamps. I used a Hantek CC-65 amp clamp connected to an Autel MP408 oscilloscope. The MP408 was connected to a Windows 10 laptop to use the Autel MaxiScope oscilloscope software. The second amp clamp was part of an AstroAI CM4KOR digital multimeter. The oscilloscope based amp clamp was present to verify the readings from the AstroAI amp clamp and to help visualize any spikes/trends.

During the charging test, no dash camera was connected to the PowerCell 8 to keep the load as minimal as possible. I used the cigarette lighter adapter (CLA) charging cable provided with the PowerCell 8 and I set the "Low/Off/High" mode switch to "Low". Using the CLA charging cable will also limit the PowerCell 8 to its "low amp" charging mode which is documented at 5.0 Amps (max).

The charge test complete successfully.

If you use this charger to charge a PowerCell 8 battery pack in your car while parked at home, make sure to disconnect the connection to the dash camera to avoid powering your dash camera during the charging cycle.

Total Charge Time = 1 hour 39 minutes 37 seconds (100 minutes rounded up)



Max Amps = 5.26 Amps

The PowerCell 8 does ramp up the amp load towards the end of the charging cycle. The Cellink Neo Plus app will state the PowerCell 8 is at a 99% charge level for an extended period of time. Towards the end of the "99%" charge time frame, the amp load increased to 5.26 Amps.



Max Charger Temperature = 122.0F/50.0C



Post 100% Charge - Charge Pulses

After the PowerCell 8 reaches a 100% charge level, the PowerCell 8 will periodically initiate short charging cycles with an amp load that reaches its previous max amps level and then it quickly tapers off.

 

[rcg530]

BlackboxMyCar 14.6V/8.0 Amp Max Charger - BlackVue Power Magic Ultra Battery B-130X 7500 mAh / 96 Wh

The B-130X dash camera battery pack was fully discharged using two VIOFO A139 Pro dash cameras and a DROK USB power load device. The room temperature was 72F/22.2F.

I monitored the temperature of the charger by using a TOPDON TC004 thermal camera. I used the TOPDON TDView software on my Windows 10 laptop to set five fixed temperature points along with the max temp within view and the min temp within view.

To not interfere with the amp draw, I used two external amp clamps. I used a Hantek CC-65 amp clamp connected to an Autel MP408 oscilloscope. The MP408 was connected to a Windows 10 laptop to use the Autel MaxiScope oscilloscope software. The second amp clamp was part of an AstroAI CM4KOR digital multimeter. The oscilloscope based amp clamp was present to verify the readings from the AstroAI amp clamp and to help visualize any spikes/trends.

During the charging test, no dash camera was connected to the B-130X to keep the load as minimal as possible. I used the cigarette lighter adapter (CLA) charging cable provided with the B-130X. Using the CLA charging cable limits the B-130X to its "low amp" charging mode which is documented at 5.0 Amps (max).

The charge test complete successfully.

If you use this charger to charge a BlackVue B-130X battery pack in your car while parked at home, make sure to disconnect the connection to the dash camera to avoid powering your dash camera during the charging cycle.

Total Charge Time = 1 hour 40 minutes 41 seconds (101 minutes rounded up)



Max Amps = 5.34 Amps

The B-130X does ramp up the amp load towards the end of the charging cycle. The BlackVue Battery app will state the B-130X is at a 75% charge level for an extended period of time and then it will jump to 100% at the very end of the charge cycle. The maximum amp reading was observed with the battery charge level reported at 72%.



Max Charger Temperature = 122.9F/50.5C

The max temperature occurred shortly after the max amp load was observed.



Post 100% Charge - Charge Pulses

After the BlackVue B-130X reaches a 100% charge level, the B-130X will periodically initiate short charging cycles with an amp load that reaches its previous max amps level and then it quickly tapers off.

 

[rcg530]

BlackboxMyCar 14.6V/8.0 Amp Max Charger - Thinkware iVolt Xtra External Battery BAB-95 7500 mAh / 96 Wh

The Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 dash camera battery pack was fully discharged using two VIOFO A139 Pro dash cameras and a DROK USB power load device. The room temperature was 74F/23.3F.

I monitored the temperature of the charger by using a TOPDON TC004 thermal camera. I used the TOPDON TDView software on my Windows 10 laptop to set five fixed temperature points along with the max temp within view and the min temp within view.

To not interfere with the amp draw, I used two external amp clamps. I used a Hantek CC-65 amp clamp connected to an Autel MP408 oscilloscope. The MP408 was connected to a Windows 10 laptop to use the Autel MaxiScope oscilloscope software. The second amp clamp was part of an AstroAI CM4KOR digital multimeter. The oscilloscope based amp clamp was present to verify the readings from the AstroAI amp clamp and to help visualize any spikes/trends.

During the charging test, no dash camera was connected to the BAB-95 to keep the load as minimal as possible.

The Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 only comes with a 14 AWG hardwire charging cable (no cigarette lighter adapter [CLA]). To use the charger in this test, you would have to purchase the CLA adapter from Thinkware. The second issue for this test is that the BAB-95 will not charge the battery pack unless there is 12V power provided to the "ACC+ In" (green) wire in the dash camera connector cable. This makes it difficult to use this type of charger to charge the BAB-95 while your vehicle is parked at home.

To allow me to complete this test, I used one of my home made 12 AWG cables that has a CLA on one end and a XT60 connector on the other end to plug into the BAB-95. I have a section of this cable with banana connectors that allows me to obtain the 12V power necessary to supply to the "ACC+ In" (green) wire. I have a toggle switch in the wire connected to the BAB-95's "ACC+ In" (green) wire to act as the vehicle ignition switch to turn the BAB-95's charging function on/off.



If you use this charger to charge a Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery pack in your car while parked at home, make sure to disconnect the connection to the dash camera to avoid powering your dash camera during the charging cycle. You will also need to provide "ACC+ In" power to the green wire in the dash camera connection cable.

The best solution would be to have a custom dash camera connection cable that would plug into BAB-95 to provide the required "ACC+ In" power. This is not going to be a viable solution for the typical user unless they are comfortable making their own cables. I'm still waiting for information from Thinkware on the correct Molex connector and terminal pins that could be used to make a cable for the dash camera connection port on the BAB-95.

The charge test complete successfully.

Total Charge Time = 1 hour 52 minutes 46 seconds (113 minutes rounded up)



Max Amps = 4.59 Amps

The BAB-95 does ramp up the amp load towards the end of the charging cycle. The Thinkware iVolt app will state the BAB-95 is at a 100% charge level for an extended period of time starting around 98 minutes into the charging cycle. It continues to draw a high amp load until it reaches its peak amp load of 4.59 Amps at 111 minutes into the charging cycle.



Max Charger Temperature = 119.7F/48.7C

The max temperature occurred shortly after the max amp load was observed.



Post 100% Charge - Charge Pulses

After the Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 reaches a 100% charge level, the BAB-95 will periodically initiate short charging cycles with an amp load that reaches its previous max amps level and then it quickly tapers off.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Excellent work Robert.

 

[rcg530]

I created three animated GIFs of the video timelines I put together for each of the tests I ran using the BlackboxMyCar DC Power Inverter 14.6V/8.0A (max). I included video frames from each 10 minute time interval in the test run. I had to convert the output video to black & white since the video color mapping to the limited 256 colors in a GIF was causing some odd green artifacts to appear in the GIF.

BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8


BlackVue B-130X


Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95

 

[Panzer Platform]

I created three animated GIFs

This is so cool.

 

[rcg530]

I've been testing a Thinkware U3000 2-channel dash camera with it being powered by a Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery pack. On 21-June-2023, the first BAB-95 that I purchased died while driving. The BAB-95 had been successfully powering a U3000 2-channel dash camera since I installed it a few days before this date. The BAB-95 became totally unresponsive on the front panel and the BAB-95 was not discovered/seen by the iVolt battery pack app. I removed the BAB-95 from my car. I created an adapter harness to convert the constant power charging cable power to an accessory/switched power charging cable using a 4-terminal relay which is controlled by the switched/accessory power wire that fed into the BAB-95. This allowed me to swap in a PowerCell 8 battery pack while I was waiting for the BAB-95 replacement. The PowerCell 8 worked without any issues while I was waiting for the BAB-95 replacement.

The BAB-95 battery pack was replaced without Thinkware investigating the root cause since it was stated there have been no reported problems with the iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery packs. I received the replacement BAB-95 battery pack on 01-July-2023. I bench tested it by charging it and powering a dash camera. No problems were found.

The BAB-95 was successfully powering the U3000 2-channel dash camera.

• 03-July-2023 - 30 minutes
• 07-July-2023 - 2.75 hours
• 14-July-2023 - 2.75 hours
• 18-July-2023 - 5 minutes - BAB-95 failed at this point

Today, I drove my car to run errands. The iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery pack failed within a few minutes of it being powered up. The car was parked in my garage since it was last driven on Friday 14-July-2023. The temperature in my garage was 81F.

• 09:04:00 - Started the car's engine
• 09:04:39 - Turned on power from BAB-95 battery pack to the U3000 by switching on a DPST switch (BATT+ / ACC+)
  • I have a DPST switch in all of my dash camera battery pack power feeds to a dash camera.
    • Other battery packs in this car
      • BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8
      • Thinkware iVolt Mini
      • Cellink B
  • This allows me to fully power down the dash camera and not drain the battery packs while the car is parked in my garage.
• 09:04:41 - U3000 powered up and announced
  • Please have a safe drive today
  • The remaining of iVolt battery is about 100 percent
• 09:05:41 - U3000 performed switch to next video file set
• 09:05:56 - GPS time update took place adjusting time to 09:06:27
• 09:07:11 - U3000 performed switch to next video file set
• 09:08:11 - U3000 performed switch to next video file set
• 09:09:09 - U3000 powered down - it generated its power down "beep" (lost power from BAB-95 battery pack)

The Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery pack is installed under my driver side front seat. A 12 AWG charging cable is run from the battery (in the trunk with an inline fuse at the battery) to this location under the seat. A 16 AWG accessory/switched power wire is run from the rear fuse box (in the trunk) with a fuse tap being used to obtain the switched/accessory power. The BAB-95 "ACC In (Green)" wire is connected to the 16 AWG accessory/switched power from the car.

A XT60 connector at the end of the 12 AWG charging cable plugs directly into the BAB-95 input charging port.

Due to the previous BAB-95 failure, I had to insert a Molex 4-terminal connector into the wires that power the dash camera (BATT+, ACC+ Out, Ground). This Molex connector is compatible with the Molex connector in the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8, BlackVue B-130X as well as many other EGEN, Inc produced battery packs. This allows me to plug in the cable with wires going to the dash camera to the replacement battery pack while waiting for the BAB-95 issue to be resolved (again).



I verified the 12 AWG input charging cable was providing constant battery power.



To provide switched/accessory charging power to the PowerCell 8 battery pack, I created an adapter harness when the first BAB-95 battery pack failed. I use a 4-terminal relay to convert the constant power supplied by the cable from the car's battery to switched/accessory charging power. The relay has 12 AWG wires for the load circuit (input power to the relay and power to the "load"). The control circuit for this relay has 16 AWG wires. I connect the white wire (terminal 85) to the 16 AWG switched/accessory wire that was previously connected to the BAB-95's "ACC In (Green)" wire. I connected the relay's black wire (terminal 86 of the control circuit) to the ground wire that is part of the 12 AWG cable that is connected to a vehicle ground. When I turn on the car's accessory power, power supplied to terminal 85 causes the relay to close the relay which causes constant battery power (terminal 30 / red wire) to be connected blue wire (terminal 87) which is then connected to the battery pack's input charging power (+).



I successfully ran this configuration using the adapter harness with the relay and the PowerCell 8 for a couple of weeks while I was waiting the replacement Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95 battery pack.

I'll report my findings to Thinkware about this second BAB-95 battery pack failure.